Sentimentality
by Orrymain
Summary: Jack and Daniel do a bit of cleaning and as they do, Daniel finds an unexpected item.


Sentimentality  
  
Author: Orrymain  
  
Author Email: marciastudley@comcast.net (Feedback welcome)  
  
Author Website: http://orrymain.raikiri.net/fanfichome.html   
  
Category: Pre-Slash, Smarm I guess you'd call it g  
  
Pairing: Jack/Daniel .... and it's all J/D  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Season: 1  
  
Spoilers: Children of the Gods, The Enemy Within (minor)  
  
Size: 13kb, ficlet  
  
Written: April 20, 23, 2004  
  
Summary: Jack and Daniel do a bit of cleaning and as they do, Daniel finds an unexpected item.  
  
Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers -- not mine, wish they were, especially Daniel, and Jack, too, but they aren't. A gal can dream though!  
  
Notes:   
  
1) Silent, unspoken thoughts by various characters are indicated with ~ in front and behind them, such as ~Where am I?~  
  
2) Thanks to my betas who always make my fics better: Claudia, QuinGem, Drdjlover!  
  
Sentimentality  
  
by Orrymain  
  
"THANKS - SEND MORE"  
  
Jack held the now-empty box of Kleenex in his hand. ~Yeah, that's Daniel Jackson all right.~ He smiled at the words written on its side, in big block letters.  
  
He walked down the ramp that led to the huge Stargate and handed the box to Major Samuels and then made his request of the General. "Permission to take a team through the Stargate, Sir?"  
  
--  
  
And that had started it all. The Stargate Command had begun to come to life, and the next day, Jack did lead a team through the Stargate to Abydos where he had found his friend, Daniel Jackson, the geek who had somehow saved his life, in more ways than one.  
  
In the days that followed, Daniel's wife Sha're, along with her brother, Skaara, had been kidnapped by the Goa'uld and forced to become hosts. What was worse, Sha're's symbiote was Amaunet, the mate of Apophis, the most powerful of the Goa'uld System Lords at that time.  
  
Apophis' First Prime, Teal'c, had defected to Earth, wanting freedom for all of his kind, the Jaffa who served not only as the army for the Goa'uld, but as a sort of incubator, raising the infant Goa'uld in pouches in their stomachs until the Goa'uld were mature enough to take human or other acceptable races as hosts.  
  
SG-1 had been set up as the flagship team, led by Jack O'Neill with Captain Samantha Carter as his second-in-command. Daniel had puppy-dogged his way onto the team, the General unable to deny him even though he had been angry at the deception of Daniel's faked death on Abydos. And Teal'c rounded out the team, having proved his loyalty during the sad situation in which Charles Kawalsky had been killed.  
  
Until the Pentagon had caught up with Daniel's back pay, and until Daniel himself had readjusted to life on Earth, the young man stayed at the home of his unlikely friend, Jack O'Neill. Now, he had finally found an apartment. He'd be moving in a few days, but first, Daniel was helping Jack with some cleaning around the country-style home.  
  
"Put some elbow grease into that, you geek," Jack teased as Daniel cleaned a window in the backyard.  
  
"Listen, if you aren't happy with how I'm doing this, you can always do it yourself, you know."  
  
Jack grinned. "And miss watching my favorite bookworm actually working up a sweat? Nope, I don't think so."  
  
"Right, Jack."  
  
Daniel went back to his chore of washing the window as Jack headed for the garbage can, carrying a large bag of weeds and foliage he'd been gathering. ~Favorite bookworm? Working up a sweat? Sometimes, O'Neill, you worry me.~  
  
A while later, Daniel spotted a few boxes sitting against the house. He'd seen one or two of them since he'd been staying with Jack, but he'd never inquired about them before. However, since they were cleaning, he figured the question would be appropriate now. "Jack, what are these?"  
  
"Oh, those are things I need to put in the garage. Just haven't gotten around to it yet."  
  
"Looks like they've been here a while."  
  
"Not that long. Had a couple of them in the truck until I finally took them out a couple days ago."  
  
"Do you want me to put them in the garage?"  
  
"Yeah, thanks." Jack continued pruning the trees. Some of the branches were leaning over the house, and he wanted to get those cut before they became more of a danger.  
  
Daniel carried the boxes into the garage and looked around for a place to put them. He finally settled on a spot against the back wall. He had three in place and was carrying the last two when he tripped over an electrical cord that was sticking out slightly.  
  
He crashed to the ground, the top box opening and its contents tumbling out all around. ~Gawd, I hate it when that happens.~  
  
Daniel did a mental check. ~Toes -- squiggling just fine, thank you. Feet and ankles -- flexing okay. Legs -- moving nicely. Arms, hands, shoulders -- all intact, no pain, moving on command. Now for the tough part -- my hard head. Still there. Glasses not broken, thank goodness. Cuts? Nope, no blood. Handkerchief is clean. Whew! Okay, now about Jack's things. Please don't be broken. He'll yell. It's not that I'm afraid of him. He just gets so loud.~  
  
Daniel chuckled. ~He's like a ... hmm ... grizzly bear, growling just to growl. Maybe I'll tell him that sometime.~  
  
Fortunately, the contents of the box weren't breakable. Daniel noticed it was mostly papers, a couple of baseball hats, and trinkets Daniel didn't even want to know how Jack acquired. But then one thing captured the archaeologist's full attention.  
  
The item had fallen a few feet away. Slowly, Daniel walked to it and picked it up, staring at it in disbelief. It looked familiar. ~You're getting paranoid, Jackson. There's a million of these ...~  
  
His silent thoughts were quieted when he saw the big black letters. "THANKS - SEND MORE." It was the same Kleenex box, the one Jack had sent through the Stargate. Daniel remembered when his brother-in-law had brought it to him.  
  
//Flashback//  
  
"Danyel! Danyel!" Daniel was returning to the temple from working in what would later be liberally known as the Abydos Cartouche, a room full of cartouche symbols that made up Stargate addresses.  
  
"What is it, Skaara?"  
  
"This has come through the Chappa'ai."  
  
"The Chappa'ai? When?"  
  
"During the last storm. It is why I didn't bring it to you right away."  
  
Daniel took the item and laughed. "Has to be Jack."  
  
"O'Neill?" Skaara looked like a small child who had just received a present from their father.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"What is this ... material, Danyel?"  
  
"It's called Kleenex, and it works great when I ... big sneeze" Daniel sighed, pulling out one of the white tissues and blowing his nose. "... when I sneeze."  
  
Daniel walked forward a few feet holding the box tenderly. ~Jack? Gawd, I can almost feel you when I touch this. I wonder what you're doing? How's your wife? Are you happy? I'm glad we met, Jack.~  
  
"Danyel?"  
  
Skaara's call snapped Daniel out of his thoughts and strangely he thought, a feeling of melancholy when he remembered his friend.  
  
"We need to go to the Chappa'ai," Daniel said, moving quickly to the circular device.  
  
~What a creation.~ He grabbed a piece of charcoal and wrote a note. "THANKS - SEND MORE" and then removed all the Kleenexes from the box, putting them in the bag he carried.  
  
With a bit of anxiety and a great deal of excitement, Daniel dialed Earth. He looked at the kawoosh of the Gate and the blue water that seemed to be the event horizon as if he'd never seen it before. ~It's magic. I wish I ... No, Daniel. You're married. You have Sha're. I wonder if Jack is traveling to other worlds, if they've figured it out.~  
  
Slowly, he walked to the Stargate and tossed the empty box through. ~I'm still here, Jack. I hope you come. It would be nice to see you again.~  
  
//End of Flashback//  
  
"He kept this?"  
  
"He who, and what was he kept?"  
  
Daniel jumped at the unexpected sound of Jack's voice. He turned around, his face reddening and his chest heaving in and out at having been startled.  
  
"Whoa, Danny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Whatcha' got?" Jack noticed Daniel had something in his hands behind his back. He also saw a bit of panic on his young friend's face. "Danny, are you okay?"  
  
Daniel closed his eyes. "I ... I, uh, tripped, and the top box fell open."  
  
"It happens," Jack shrugged, totally unconcerned. "Anything break?" Jack walked over to the top box.  
  
"No." The voice seemed a bit tentative to Jack.  
  
"Okay, what's wrong?"  
  
"I ... I just meant ... I mean, I ... it fell and ..."  
  
"DANIEL! What?"  
  
The archaeologist brought the item to the forefront, extending his arm towards Jack.  
  
"Mmmph, yeah, I ... remember that," Jack said a bit hesitantly, reaching out to take the box. He tried to avoid Daniel's gaze.  
  
"I, uh, I was just surprised, that's all."  
  
"Yeah, me, too."  
  
"What?"  
  
"What?" Jack echoed, getting a stare in return. "Oh, well, when it came through, I handed it to that imbecile Samuels and, well, later, when I went to the General's office, it was just sitting there, and ..."  
  
"You STOLE it? From the General's office?"  
  
Jack shrugged. "He was just going to throw it away."  
  
"Jack, it's a box of Kleenex ... an EMPTY box of Kleenex."  
  
"So it is," Jack said as he sighed, still playing with the box. And yet, as he saw the block lettering, he couldn't help but smile. "I was glad you responded. I wasn't really sure if you would or not."  
  
"Like I wouldn't?"  
  
"You had to know there was a risk."  
  
Daniel looked down, suddenly consumed with guilt. If he had buried the Stargate, maybe Sha're and Skaara would be safe, ~and we'd be happy on Abydos, and none of this would have happened. Everything would be ... gawd, I wouldn't be here, wouldn't be on SG-1, wouldn't be with ... Jack.~  
  
"Danny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that the way it sounded. It's possible, even probable the Goa'uld would have found their way back to Abydos some other way eventually. None of what has happened was your fault."  
  
"Maybe." He wasn't convinced, but he didn't want to think about it anymore either. "So, why'd you ... steal it?"  
  
"Because ... because ... crap, Danny, you wrote on it, and I'm a sentimental fool sometimes, and I didn't really know if you were alive or dead, or if we'd survive the next mission, so I just wanted something ... tangible, that's all."  
  
"You ... you ... you kept it because I, uh, wrote on the box?"  
  
"Daniel, if you tell one soul, I will personally break your neck."  
  
Daniel smiled. Jack threatening to kill him was becoming routine, but somehow he always knew it would never happen. It was just Jack's way. ~The growl of the grizzly bear.~  
  
"Hey, why are you smiling?"  
  
"Just thinking. No one's ever done that before. It's just ... kinda nice, in a weird, crazy, strange sort of way."  
  
Jack laughed at Daniel's words as he moved towards the storage box. It was crazy, but he couldn't help himself. ~This could have been worse. He could have found ... Nope, don't even want to think about that.~ Jack put the Kleenex box back in the larger box. "Still keeping it, and I don't want to hear another word about it, Doctor Jackson. You got that?"  
  
Daniel nodded, somehow feeling warm inside. He was still adjusting to Jack being a friend, and not just a friend, but a good friend, maybe even his best friend, and that was a foreign concept to Daniel. And now, here was that tough-as-nails Colonel keeping some old tissue box simply because Daniel had written on it. ~It shouldn't, but it makes me feel good. Gawd, how crazy is that?~  
  
"Danny, let's have Chinese tonight. Okay?"  
  
Daniel grinned. They'd had Chinese last night, too, and it really wasn't Jack's favorite food. He tolerated it because Daniel loved it.  
  
"Sounds good, Jack."  
  
"But we're placing a double order so you don't hog the ..."  
  
"Jack, I never hog anything."  
  
"Sure, you do," Jack motioned for them to head inside the house. "You get that gooey gop pan stuff and ..."  
  
Daniel rolled his eyes as he listened to Jack rant about Chinese food, knowing full well his friend was a teddy bear in a grizzly bear disguise. ~Go on, O'Neill. Rant away. You're just a sentimental slob anyway. And ... thank you, Jack. Thank you for ... keeping that old box of Kleenex. Maybe some day I'll tell you that I still have that handkerchief you gave me on Abydos. I never use it. I just ... maybe some day I'll tell you.~  
  
~~Finis - Finished - Done - The End - But is it ever Really?~~ 


End file.
